Naughty In Nice

Review of Book 5 of Her Royal Spyness Series

Georgie is desperate to leave dreary London in January 1933 and travel to the sunny French Rivera with her best friend, Belinda. Alas, she, despite being a relation to the Queen of England, is dirt poor. This causes her to be even more depressed, especially since she has to face her very pregnant, but very icy sister-in-law. Georgie’s fortune looks up, though, when the Queen of England asks Georgie to retrieve her snuff box from an aristocrat staying in the French Rivera.

On the train, Georgie meets Coco Chanel who asks her to model her latest outfit. Georgie reluctantly agrees and during the show, on the runway, she trips and falls into the crowd. While she is trying to extract herself from the crowd, someone steals the diamond necklace she is wearing. The problem? The diamond necklace belongs to the Queen. And to make matters worse, the aristocrat who has the Queen’s snuff box ends up being murdered and Georgie becomes the primary suspect!

This was an interesting installment of the series for two reasons. First, Georgie’s love interest, Darcy, is vacationing in the French Rivera with a young woman and a young boy. Naturally, Georgie concludes that Darcy has been keeping a secret wife/mistress and child from her. Of course, not everything is as it seems. Second, Georgie’s mother has a more prominent role in this novel, and she actually behaves like a real mother (at times), which was a nice change.

Naughty In Nice was a very clever mystery. The author definitely threw some challenging red herrings, so when I thought I was sure of the solution, I was proven wrong. The mysteries are becoming more complicated in the series, which makes the novels more enjoyable.

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Next Novel in Series: The Twelve Clues of Christmas

Next Books to Review: O Jerusalem (Book 5 of the Mary Russell/Sherlock Homes mystery series) and Vanished Without a Trace (Love Inspired Suspense)